MANILA/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – As Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario began to raise the sensitive issue of the South China Sea at one of last week’s Asian summit meetings, his microphone went dead.

A technical glitch, said the Cambodian hosts. Perhaps something more sinister, hinted some diplomats who were frustrated by Chinese ally Cambodia’s dogged efforts to keep the subject off the agenda.

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – A Southeast Asian regional summit ended in acrimony on Friday over China’s assertive role in the strategic South China Sea, failing to agree on a concluding joint statement for the first time in its 45-year history.

Divisions between the 10 countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) follow a rise in incidents of naval brinkmanship involving Chinese vessels in the oil-rich waters that has sparked fears of a military clash.

(Reuters) – Little more than a dozen years after the region’s crippling financial crisis, Southeast Asia is looking more a safe haven than a risky bet, with foreign investors souring on China and India and pouring money into markets proving resilient to the global gloom.

Short-term investors in Southeast Asian stocks and bonds are being overtaken by those with a longer-term horizon, signalling growing confidence in a region of 600 million people that boasts a rapidly growing middle-class.

(Reuters) – Little more than a dozen years after the region’s crippling financial crisis, Southeast Asia is looking more a safe haven than a risky bet, with foreign investors souring on China and India and pouring money into markets proving resilient to the global gloom.

Short-term investors in Southeast Asian stocks and bonds are being overtaken by those with a longer-term horizon, signaling growing confidence in a region of 600 million people that boasts a rapidly growing middle-class.

MANILA (Reuters) – A middle-class woman is headed to jail for tax evasion.

That wouldn’t make headlines in many countries, but it’s big news in the Philippines. It was enough to send President Benigno Aquino reaching excitedly for his phone during an interview this week to retrieve a message about the case from his tax chief.

Businesswoman Gloria Kintanar had just exhausted her appeals and would become the first tax evader in Philippine history to be jailed – once authorities deal with her claim of illness at the hospital where she is under arrest.

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines may ask the United States to deploy spy planes over the South China Sea to help monitor the disputed waters, President Benigno Aquino told Reuters on Monday, a move that could worsen tensions with its giant neighbor China.

The two countries only recently stepped back from a months-long standoff at the Scarborough Shoal, a horseshoe shaped reef near the Philippines in waters they both claim – the latest round of naval brinkmanship over the resource-rich sea.

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines may ask the United States to deploy spy planes over the South China Sea to help monitor the disputed waters, President Benigno Aquino told Reuters on Monday, a move that could worsen tensions with its giant neighbor China.

The two countries only recently stepped back from a months-long standoff at the Scarborough Shoal, a horseshoe shaped reef near the Philippines in waters they both claim – the latest round of naval brinkmanship over the resource-rich sea.

MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Benigno Aquino said on Monday he may ask the United States to deploy spy planes over the South China Sea to help monitor the disputed waters, a move that could worsen tensions with its giant neighbour China.

The two countries only recently stepped back from a months-long standoff at the Scarborough Shoal, a horseshoe shaped reef near the Philippines in waters they both claim. The United States has said it is neutral in the long-running maritime dispute and China has warned that “external forces” should not get involved in the dispute.

About Stuart

"I cover the politics, economics and people of Southeast Asia from Kuala Lumpur, where I also act as head of editorial for Malaysia and Brunei. I joined Reuters on the Singapore editing desk back in 1997 and have been on the move ever since, from Japan to the Philippines to the U.S.A and then Brazil."